Protesting Quake Parents Detained

Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan detained at least 10 parents whose children were killed when school buildings collapsed during the May 12 earthquake, after hundreds of bereaved relatives staged rowdy protests outside government offices in quake-ravaged area.

Several hundred parents staged a sit-in outside municipal government offices in Deyang city Tuesday, calling on local government officials to meet with them. Similar protests were reported in towns across the areas worst hit by the earthquake, in which at least 70,000 people died, an estimated 10,000 of them schoolchildren.

In nearby Shifang city, about 1,000 parents from at least five nearby towns staged a similar protest at proposals by local officials to hand out almost 100,000 yuan (U.S.$14,600) in payouts per household, if parents signed an agreement waiving their right to sue the government over allegations of shoddy construction in school buildings.

“They characterized the money as a government subsidy, not compensation,” a bereaved father surnamed Lei from Shifang said.